Monthly Masterclass Schedule 2026/2027

 

May - "All About Comping"

This class will discuss different ways of thinking about comping. Founded in melody and rhythm, we will learn how to comp spontaneously and interactively, in a way that allows for endless variation.

 

June - “Chorale-Type” Playing

We will discuss a way to approach “chorale-style” harmonization, learning how to use simple shells to create harmonic movement with inner voices.

 

July - "Intros and Endings"

Intros and endings are often the most important parts of songs we play. In this class we’ll discuss ways of finding unexpected material in the songs we are playing to create different types of intros and endings.

 

August - Using Barry Harris’ “6th dim. scale”

Barry Harris’ famous “6th diminished” scale has become a much-talked about device these days. In this class, I’ll discuss the basics of the scale, some applications of it that I learned from Barry at his classes, as well as some of my own derivations.

 

September - "Unlocking the Left Hand"

This class will explore the power of our left hands, its capacity to define our entire rhythmic feel, and how its proper use can free up our right hands to enormous possibilities.

 

October - "Rhythm Training"

Using a famous exercise from the great Ari Hoenig as a starting point, this class will discuss how to understand rhythm at the micro-level, and then transfer that internal feeling of rhythm to the piano.

 

November - "Creating Voicings"

This class will discuss a simple but powerful way to create voicings. With melody always as our guide, we will reveal just how many possibilities exist to harmonize a single note.

 

December - "Myths in Piano Playing"

This will be a class about piano technique, from the perspective of the piano itself. In other words, much of piano playing is not what it looks like! And in order to effectively play the piano we need to deeply understand what the instrument can do, vs. what it can’t do. Unpacking four common “myths” in piano playing will help to clarify this.

 

January - "Playing the Changes"

This class will discuss a “surgical” method of understanding how to play the changes, and will reveal how literally any two chords can connect in an effective way.

 

February - "Playing Lines"

Following up on last month’s class, this class will discuss the power of using simple chords for improvising (as opposed to scales), and discuss some fingering tricks that will allow us more freedom in accessing these sounds.

 

March - "My Favorite Piano Exercise"

This class will be all about one of my all-time favorite piano exercises, and what it canteach us about harmony and piano playing in general. It will also demonstrate some powerful practical applications of it that can be used to harmonize melodies quickly in real-time.

 

April - "Playing More Than Changes"

This class will discuss some things to think about when improvising other than “notes over chord changes”. Specifically, we’ll cover an important exercise in hearing and generating our own melodies, as well as a way to derive unexpected motives from the melody to generate our improvisations.